New information just released today paints the economy in an even gloomier light. Prices of domestically produced goods as well as imports continue to soar, growing to the highest annual rate in nearly a quarter of a century. At the same time, consumer confidence falls to abysmal rates that are the worst since the 1990s recession era. To make matters worse, the labor market shrinks as around 17,000 employers cut jobs just within the last month. Consumers decrease spending due to a growing CPI and rising inflationary rates. All of this stems back to a housing bubble that was created around 2001, in which many populated areas such as California, New York, and Florida experienced escalating prices. This phenomenon was driven mainly by historically-low interest rates, loose lending standards, and a major increase in demand for houses. Then, around 2005, the price leveled off due to many homeowners’ inability to pay back their mortgages. Since then, there has been a rapid increase of foreclosure rates and an international impact on the housing market and many sectors of the economy. As the United States Secretary of Treasury stated, a housing bubble is “the most significant risk to our economy.” In early 2008, and perhaps for a much longer period, we are facing the negative outcomes of that risk.